Foxes and Hares
by kaliflower
Summary: The four get a bit drunk and decide it would be a great idea to play hide and seek in the dark.


**Title**: Foxes and Hares  
**Author**: KaliflowerRating: PG  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own this universe or these characters; many other people, like the good people at the Beeb and Shine Group, own it all. I just play in the sandbox.  
**Pairings**: OT4  
**Warnings**: Technically, there are no spoilers, but the idea came from the new SFX article that has loads of spoilers. Basically Katie recalled running around the courtyard of the castle playing hide and seek with the other core four cast mates. Someone needs to write that RPF.  
**Summary**: The group gets a bit drunk and decides it would be a great idea to play hide and seek in the dark.

--

Surprisingly, it was not Merlin who instigated the game. One cup of well-watered wine and the boy would usually be up for anything and trying to convince everyone around him it would be a good idea. Nor did Morgana suggest it, although the liquor and the chatting in the privacy of the tower had been her idea. He'd much rather blame it on Morgana than Gwen – the person who really did end up suggesting it.

She was staring down from the tower at the courtyard below, and said, more wistfully than he would have expected from her, "I remember when I used to play foxes and hares down there. I still remember my favorite hiding spot. No one ever found it."

Merlin walked over to her, placing his hand on the small of her back and looked down at the courtyard with Gwen. Arthur wanted to warn him of the impropriety of the action, or at least of Morgana's wrath, but when he turned to watch Morgana, he found she was looking at the both of them. Arthur couldn't read the expression on her face. "What's foxes and hares?" Merlin asked, turning to look at Gwen, his face half lit by the moon from the window and the candle light from the room. It made him look unearthly and more beautiful than normal. Arthur had to concentrate for a moment to even out his breathing before Morgana caught him.

"A children's game. One person is the fox and everyone else is a hare. The fox closes her eyes and counts down from 20. The hares have to hide from the fox." Gwen explained.

"We had that in Ealdor, but we called it hide and seek."

Arthur stood up and walked over to the two of them. He rolled his eyes at Merlin. "Clever name, hide and seek. What bright children there are in Ealdor, Mer-lin."

"I was never allowed to play foxes and hares growing up. It wasn't proper for me to associate with the other children." Morgana said, walking over to the group with her drink in one hand and Gwen's drink in the other.

Gwen took the offered drink and took a deep sip before she said. "We should play."

The others stared at her for a second before she added. "Or not, because I mean it would be improper. And, um, childish. And really, it's the alcohol speaking."

"I'd love to. We'd all love to." Morgana said, interrupting Gwen. Morgana backed her offer up with a remarkably well- aimed glare at both Arthur and Merlin made even more impressive because they were on opposite sides of Gwen.

Merlin, of course, backed Morgana up. He has no sense of what was proper for master and servant relationships let alone those between men and women and seemed to think it would be some sort of amusing game. Arthur harrumphed the idea, but gave his assent.

While he is Prince of the realm, Arthur did admit to himself that when Morgana, Gwen, and Merlin wanted to do something, it was almost always smarter and safer to join them then to tell them not to. Mostly, because they would do it anyway, but maybe more importantly because often he joined in he ended up enjoying himself more than thought he would.

Gwen snuffed out the candles while Morgana grabbed the last full bottle of wine left of the evening, Merlin and Arthur following behind the two of them. They walked through the corridors slowly, passing the bottle back and forth, each person moving around the group talking to everyone at once.

"I think I should be the fox." Morgana said, taking the bottle from Arthur.

"Why should you get to be the fox?" Arthur replied. "I would make a wonderful fox."

"Because I've never played before, and I should get to pick which role I play."

"Well, I don't want to be the fox, I always liked being a hare more." Gwen piped in.

"Guinevere, you're not helping." Arthur said looking past Morgana's shoulder.

"Oh, I think she is. She just knows the right person to back." Morgana said, smirking at him.

"Arthur, you only want to be the fox because she said she wanted it." Merlin added from behind him.

"What? I do not. I want to be the fox, because I am the Prince. Which you lot have seemed to forget, and because a Prince does not hide like a hare." They glared at him: Morgana's a wicked smirk, Merlin's a barely restrained eye roll, and Gwen's almost covered by a quick downward glance when he looked her way.

"Fine." He puffed as they walked out of the last hallway into the courtyard. In the middle of the night, the only noise was from their voices as they spilled out. They tried to hush each other but ended up making more noise than if they had simply begun the game.

Morgana put down the wine bottle on the bottom step of the main staircase and turned around starting to countdown slowly from twenty. Merlin and Gwen each darted away in opposite directions as stealthily as they could. For Merlin, this meant failing at any kind of stealth. Arthur crept away from Morgana and then, when he was half way across the courtyard from her, quickly doubled back and hid in the shadow of the staircase near where Morgana was counting. He was depending on her turning around right away and not considering such a close by hiding place – a classic beginner's mistake.

When she reached the count of one, she hesitated for a moment, then opened her eyes and turned around. She only took a few steps, her heels clacking against the paving stones of the courtyard, before she took them off and flung them towards the wine bottle. She crept around the courtyard, away from Arthur (Ha! He knew she'd make that mistake) and towards the hay cart. She walked slowly around it, peered under it, and even poked around inside it for a moment before she gave up on that. She started off towards the doors by the entry way when they both heard a scuffling noise. It had to be Merlin, Arthur guessed, and a few minutes later Morgana shrieked a triumphant "Got you!" before she remembered herself and, holding a finger to her lips, shushed Merlin. Which made them both laugh like the mad, drunk fools they were. And may have quirked the corner of his own mouth, but at least he could remain quiet about it. Being the first one found, and without anything better to do, Merlin trailed behind Morgana, whispering a litany of advice about how to be a good seeker. Arthur was amused to find that Merlin's advice was all rather good, and he'd have to remind Merlin of some of what he said the next time they went on a hunt together. If Merlin put some of his own advice to good use, Arthur could make a huntsman of him yet. Well, actually, no. Merlin would never be a good on a hunt, but he could at least stop botching Arthur's kills.

Morgana wandered around the courtyard with Merlin in tow for five more minutes before she found Arthur. This time she didn't shriek out anything. She just raised her eyebrow at him and crossed her arms, as if finding him proved something. Which it didn't. Sadly, he knew he'd be hearing this story, spun to make Morgana look as if she were a genius at foxes and hares, all through the winter.

"Where's Gwen?" Morgana asked him after he stood up from his crouched hiding space.

"I'm not telling you where she is." Arthur said. "It's against the rules of the game. You'll just have to find her yourself."

He walked next to Merlin, providing contradictory and bad advice to Morgana, to combat the perfectly good advice Merlin was still giving her. Morgana ignored him and turned out to be a quick learner. She worked her way methodically through the courtyard, looking at all the corners, nooks, and other hiding places Gwen could have gone. Yet, thirty minutes later they were still looking for Gwen.

Arthur was growing a little worried that something had happened to Gwen, and he could tell Morgana was as well from the furrow on her brow. "Gwen, Gwen." She whispered as loudly as she dared. "Gwen, I give up. You win. I can't find you."

But there was no answer.

"Gwen." Morgana called a little louder. And Arthur joined it. But there was still no reply.

Arthur was just beginning to actually worry when he heard Merlin from behind him whisper something he couldn't make out, then cough and say, "She's over there."

"You knew where she was and you didn't say anything?" Arthur asked.

Merlin opened his mouth and then stopped before he said, "I saw where she went when I was hiding, but I wasn't going to give her away while Morgana was still playing."

They let Merlin lead the way and he walked over to the small wooden buildings used by the stable boys to house the hay fed to the animals left in the courtyard during the day. "We've already looked here." Morgana said. Merlin pointed up.

There was a small hayloft in the second floor of the building, but it was small and cramped. Stupidly, Arthur never considered it as an option for a hiding place. He briefly wondered if this was her fail-proof hiding place.

Morgana climbed up the ladder, followed by Merlin. Then Arthur. He was just about to ask how Merlin could have known where she was hiding since the ladder and the hayloft were hidden from the view of his hiding place, when Morgana said, "Oh, she's sleeping."

Gwen was laying in the hay rolled over on her side, curled up, knees almost touching her forehead. Morgana knelt down by Gwen to gently shake her awake. "Wake up, Gwen. You won."

Gwen blinked a few times. "Oh, I'm sorry, I must have fallen alseep." Gwen said, when she sat up, picking straw out of her hair.

"Looks comfy." Merlin said, as he sat down next to her. He laid back into the hay and took a deep breath in. "Maybe I could just sleep here too. I don't want to walk up all those steps to my room, now." He continued, his speech slurring a bit with the drink and the sleep.

Arthur looked over to Morgana for help. Someone had to set a good example, and as the Prince and the King's ward, they were the first example in the kingdom. Except, she had fallen back onto the hay. One hand of hers was still curled up in Gwen's and her face was only a few inches away from Merlin's.

He walked over to Merlin, and held out his hand. "Come on Merlin. I'll help you up. It's obvious, you need to go to bed."

Merlin grabbed his hand, but instead of using it to help himself up, he tugged Arthur, who was caught unawares enough, because of the drink, obviously, that he ended up falling on top of Merlin. He rolled off of him towards Morgana, who had moved out of the way, because, well the hay was comfortable, and with all the people there, it was very warm and relaxing. He blew some hay off of his face, while Merlin moved closer towards him. Gwen laid down again, into his open arm, and wedged herself between him and Morgana.

Arthur woke the next morning to the sound of doves cooing somewhere above him. For a moment he wasn't sure where he was, but then he felt Merlin spooning him from behind, and Gwen and Morgana cuddled against him in his arms. He smiled to himself. Despite the knowledge that it was going to be very difficult to get down from the hayloft without anyone finding out what happened, he decided that it had all been worth it.


End file.
